Daily Business Report-June 18, 2020
San Diego Convention Center lobby. (Photo courtesy of San Diego Convention Center Corp.)
Convention Center banking on
large events returning in December
By Ashly McGlone | Voice of San Diego
Convention centers are still closed for normal business across the state, but San Diego Convention Center officials are hopeful they will return to some normalcy in December when they welcome a large medical conference of hematologists.
In fact, their budget – now projected to shrink from $40 million to $20 million next year – is banking on it.
New Convention Center budget projections for 2020-21 count on large conventions resuming with 50 percent attendance in December, before gradually increasing to pre-COVID-19 levels, reaching 100 percent attendance by July 1, 2021.
The new plan sketched out for the San Diego Convention Center budget committee Monday included job losses that slash the center’s workforce almost in half, even after receiving millions in payroll stimulus dollars from the federal government this year.
A picture of the Convention Center’s operations next year is coming into focus, and there will be tough times ahead.
COVID-19 closures will result in a $5 million operating deficit this fiscal year, revised budget records show. Losing events for half of next year will cost the center at least $20 million in operating revenues, half of the $40 million originally budgeted for fiscal year 2021, Mardeen Mattix, chief financial officer for the Convention Center, told the budget committee. The combined losses this year and next will be partially offset by $4.3 million in payroll protection stimulus money and up to $9 million from the city of San Diego – which is using the Convention Center to house more than 1,300 homeless people during the pandemic.
As recently as April, Convention Center officials adopted a more aggressive budget that brought events back in August. That budget was approved “when things were really fresh,” and before any events in August had been canceled, said San Diego Convention Center CEO Rip Rippetoe in an interview.
“We did not know the devastation of the pandemic and how it impacted everything, and not just our industry. … Now that this has progressed and turned into what this has turned into, we are using realistic optimism,” he said.
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Hospitality industry veteran takes helm
of San Diego Tourism Authority
New President and CEO Julie Coker to help lead tourism recovery effort
Julie Coker has taken over as the new president and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) as the organization begins to enact its recovery plan for the local tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.
Coker, a hospitality industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience, comes to San Diego after serving as the president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. She replaces Joe Terzi, who retired on May 30, but will continue on the board of the San Diego Tourism Marketing District.
Originally, Coker was to begin her new role with the SDTA in March but delayed her start date so she could help the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau navigate the ongoing pandemic. During that transition, Coker gave up her salary so hourly team members could continue to work..
Prior to her tenure as president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, Coker served as the organization’s executive vice president. Coker spent 21 years with Hyatt Hotels, where she held general manager positions for properties in Philadelphia, Chicago and Oakbrook, Illinois. Among her many accomplishments, Coker has served as chair of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Women in Lodging council, and as co-chair of U.S. Travel Association’s Meetings Mean Business.
“Julie is known throughout the industry for her dynamic and positive leadership. The combination of her experience and can-do attitude will be invaluable to both the organization and the local tourism community as we begin our recovery,” said SDTA board chair Daniel Kuperschmid. “She also brings a fresh perspective and passion for the destination that will serve the SDTA and San Diego well.”
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Federal probe underway after San Diego VA
stops treatment that helps suicidal vets
Following an inewsource report that the VA San Diego Healthcare System has stopped paying for a drug treatment that helps suicidal veterans, a panel of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has begun investigating the decision.
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MiraCosta College awarded $510,000
for SoCal Veterans Business Outreach Center
MiraCosta College has been awarded a $510,000 grant renewal from the U.S. Small Business Administration to expand operations of the SoCal Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) located at the college’s Technology Career Institute in Carlsbad.
MiraCosta College’s SoCal VBOC opened in July 2016 and services have grown steadily since. This is by far the largest annual grant the college has received for the expanding program.
MiraCosta serves almost 3,500 students who are veterans, active-duty personnel, or military dependents, and is in the process of constructing a new 1,424-square-foot Veterans Center that will be housed in a new Student Services Building at the Oceanside campus.
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Freestanding retail/office building
in Rancho Santa Fe sells for $3.2 million
A freestanding, mixed-use office and retail building in Rancho Santa Fe has been sold for $3.2 million to an undisclosed buyer. The 3,064-square foot building is situated at the corner of Avenida de Acacias and La Flecha. Millennium Trust Co. was the seller.
the two-story, multi-tenant building was constructed in traditional Spanish architecture and consists of ground floor retail and second floor office—each suite having separate entries.
Key property features include a flexible floor plan, balcony, large front patio, plus a private interior garden-style patio.
Peter Curry and Brooks Campbell with Cushman & Wakefield’s Private Capital Group in San Diego represented both parties in the leased investment transaction.
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BNBuilders receives national first place
‘Construction Safety Excellence Award’
BNBuilders was honored with a first place 2020 Construction Safety Excellence Award (CSEA) during the Associated General Contractors (AGC) National Convention in Las Vegas. The company received a first place award in the Building division, in the 900,000 – 2 Million Work Hours category for its exceptional safety performance.
The CSEA award identifies BNBuilders as one of the nation’s top general contractors for safety performance, occupational health management, and risk control. This is the second time the firm has been recognized with this prestigious award.
BNBuilders is headquartered in Seattle and has a San Diego office at 5825 Oberlin Drive, Suite 1, 92121.
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SDSU top 10 in U.S., No. 1 in California
for supporting LGBTQ+ students
San Diego State University provides the best support for LGBTQ+ students of any college in California and is among the nation’s top 10, according to new rankings from an organization dedicated to promoting inclusive and safe environments for the LGBTQ community to learn and live.
In an index released Wednesday and timed for Pride Month, SDSU was ranked No. 8 nationally with a perfect five-star rating in the list of “Best Colleges for LGBTQ+ Students,” developed by Campus Pride and BestColleges. The ranking is up from No. 12 in the partnership’s 2019 list.
SDSU was at the top of the organization’s first-ever, separate list of the best colleges in each state for California. The list is intended to serve as a resource for students who want to experience an inclusive environment but may not have the opportunity to attend a school out of state.
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SD Community College District board
adopts tentative $755 milllion budget
The San Diego Community College District’s (SDCCD) Board of Trustees has adopted a $755-million tentative budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year that continues to emphasize student access and success. The district’s tentative budget is considered a starting place as lawmakers in Sacramento continue to discuss how best to address the state’s severe fiscal challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Depending upon the duration and severity of the COVID-19 emergency and its impact on the state’s economy, the SDCCD’s tentative budget was developed in a flexible manner to allow the district to respond to future budget changes at the state level. After additional information about the state’s fiscal condition becomes available in August or September, a final adopted budget will be approved by the SDCCD Board of Trustees in September.
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Parking enforcement to restart
in city of San Diego on July 1
The city of San Diego will resume enforcement of all parking regulations starting on Wednesday, July 1. The enforcement will begin with a two-week grace period, during which violators will receive written warnings. Citations with corresponding fines will be issued beginning Wednesday, July 15.
As more City services and facilities reopen to the public, many City employees, including parking enforcement staff, who had been deployed to assist with closures at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic are now being called back to resume their normal shifts. Bringing back parking enforcement is identified as one small step toward restoring San Diego’s economy.
The city suspended citations for vehicles violating street sweeping, metered parking, time limits and yellow commercial zones on March 16 after the state and county stay-at-home order went into effect.
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CBRE Project Management wins CMAA Award
for San Ysidro Land Port of Entry Project
CBRE’s Project Management division has won a Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Award for the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry Phase II project at the U.S.-Mexico Border in San Diego.
Bill Slaybaugh and Alberto Vela of CBRE | Heery led the 127,400-square-foot, $160 million redevelopment project from 2015-2019.
The Phase II portion of the project was directly related to the east pedestrian entry into the United States from Mexico. CBRE | Heery helped bring the outdated facility into the 21st century, providing the client with a property that can now fully support the missions of Customs and Border Protection.
The redevelopment involved significant demolition of existing structures, construction of replacement facilities, and the historical renovation of a 1932 Customs House, including a new second-story addition to facilitate processing for Mexico-bound travelers.
